“Two people who were shot at Lone Star Community College said right after the shooting that the shooter was Carlton Berry,” Garcia said. “It was those statements and those witnesses that met our 'probable cause' and the charges were accepted by the district attorney's office.”

He said Berry first told investigators that he knew nothing about the shooting, but after the charges were filed he admitted he was there and fingered a second suspect, Trey Foster, who has been charged as the shooter.

If they had not charged Berry, Garcia said, Foster might not have been arrested and the gun believed to have been used in the shooting might not have been recovered.

Foster was charged two days after the shooting that allegedly stemmed from an altercation between Foster and another student at the college. Foster was arrested Friday in Plano. He was arraigned Monday morning, and his bail was set at $100,000.

Prosecutors said the investigation continues.

“The charges have been dismissed against Carlton Berry pending further investigation at this time,” said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Alison Baimbridge. “Those investigators need time and everyone needs to give them time.”

Ten shots were fired just after noon on Jan. 22. Berry, another student and a maintenance man at the college were wounded.

Robert Jones, Berry's attorney, took authorities to task for charging his client while he was in the hospital recovering from being shot in the leg from behind.

“If a person is shot in their behind, then their head was facing in the opposite direction,” Jones said. “He said continually, whenever they talked to him, that he didn't do anything, but that wasn't enough.”

Quanell X, a Houston activist who spoke for Berry's family, lambasted the sheriff's office and prosecutors for their handling of the case.

“It's a disgrace how the sheriff's department and the district attorney's office allowed misinformation to have a young man, who was a shooting victim, incarcerated — put in jail and taken away from his family and have his name slandered across the news,” the community activist said.